Machine for



E siii* (No Model.) l i n'neets--Sheet D. E. PWERS. Machine for Applying Primers to Cartridge Shells.

NG. 240,539. Pain'ed Apiii 25;

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

Shells.

I D E. PWERS. f Machine for Applying Primers to Cartridge No.l 240,539. Pa'enied April 26, i881B jig/I d.

miren 1 @trice DAHEL E. FUWERS, 0F NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TU S. W. WOD, 0Fl

UORNWALLWN. Y.

IEDEUEIFICLTIN forming part of Letters Patent lilo. Application tiled February 21, 1881.

240,539, dated April. 26, 1881. (No model.)

To eli whom it may concern .Be it known that l, DANIEL E. Pownns, of the city, county, and State ofNeW York, have iinventinl new and useful Improvements in Mashines for Applying Primers to Shells for Cartridges, of which the following is a ii'nll, clear, and exact description, reference being,` had to the accompanying drawings, making part oi this specification.

Figure l represents a front elevation thereoi; Fig. 2, a side elevation; Fig. 3, a plan or top View; Fig. d, detached view of' the priming mechanism; Fig. 5, detached view of the telic-oil for removing` the primed shells from the punches; and Fig. 6, detached and enlarged view of the adj estable punch-holder.

My invention consists in improvements in machines for priming shells ior cartridges, hereinafter fully set forth.

Like letters indicate similar parts in all the figures.

A in the accompanying;I drawings represents a suitable base to support the drivin g mechanism and the pillars B, upon which is placed the table U, forming the frame complete.

D represents a driving-Wheel secured to the main driving-shaft E, from which motion is imparted to the operating,` mechanism to prime shells for cartridges. l

Secured to the base Aarotwo upright Ways, F, in which the slide G moves up and down by means ol" the crank X on the main shaft E.

To the upper side ofthe table C are secured four tubular guides, i, 'through which guides pass-four rods, l J, which rods, beneath the table C, are bolted iirmly to a plate, K.

To 'the upper ends of these rods J J is littcd a plate, L, on which plate are arranged a punch for forcing the shells to be pierced down upon the pins it in position, the piercing-punch N,for piercing ahole in the bottom ofthe pockets of the shells, the punch U, for forcing the primers into the pockets, the take-oli', Yfor removing the primed shells from the punches, and the cam or irregularly-slotted bar P, for imparting` the'required reciprocating more nicht to the mechanism to present the primers,

one afterauother, in position beneath the punch 0. The plate il, being,r connected to the slide G, is moved up and dovvn thereby, und

the rods J J, bolted to this through the upright tubular `cuide-posts I, give an up-and-down movement to the plate L, to which the several punches M N (land take-off E are arranged and secured.

To obtain the required intermittent revolving motion for the dial-plate n, carrying the pins lt, iu order to present the shells placed thereon beneath the priming-punch 0 consecutively to be primed, a cam, V, is provided, which revolves in a notched wheel, Z, or be tween friction-rollers, if preferred, in this supplementary wheel beneath the table C. This cam V revolves once to impart one forward movement to thedial u, secured to the same shaft. The straight or concentric part b holds the dial-plate n firmly in position while a shell is being primed, and after the piercing and priming punches have been upward movement oi' the plate L, after having pierced and primed a shell, the curved part e revolves the Wheel Z one notch, which turns the dial-plate therewith and presents the nent succeeding shell to be pierced and primed.'

The primers are placed upon a revolving pla-te, W, in the usual manner, and are carried thereby directly to the sliding jaws m n, and thence, by these jaws, beneathV the primingpunch 0, one byone, and over the die p, to guide them into the pockets of the shells. The sliding jaws m n are operated by a slide, d, to which they are attached, the required intermittent forward-aml-bach movement being obtained by means of a cam or irregular slot, fr, in the upright bar P, carried up and down by the plate L, upon which it is mounted and secured, and the vibrating lever j" and frictionjournal t, operating in said bar I. When the friction-roller t is at its lowest point in the slot iv, the jaws my n are in position to receive a primer, and are open, as shown in detached view, Fig. 4, the section-n being attached to the slide d, and moves therewith its entire stroke, and the front section, m, supported by and sliding back and forth on a shank, g, in section n. When thc slide d is moved back by the leverf and Wrist-pin w, the section n moves the entire distance therewith; butthe section in is arrested et the proper point by a stop-pin,I

taking against a notch in the side of said plate and moving Withdrawn bythe section m, so that as the section a continues. to move backward the jaws b open, as represented in detached view, Fig. 4, to receive a primer, and as the jaw a commences to move forward the jaw m remains in position by means of a spring, y, until the two jaws inclose a primer between them, when they both move forward, carrying the primer therewith overl the priming-die p, to be inserted by the punch O into'a pocket in a shell, and after the punchv O shall have forced a primer into a pocket in a shell it recedes from between the two jaws, and they are permitted to return toV receive and bring forward another primer for the next succeeding shell. Before the shells arc presented to be primed the pockets therein are pierced with a hole by a punch, N, so as to form communication between the powder in the shells and the fulminate in the primers, that the ame of the fulminate may ignite the powder.

In order that the shells being pierced may not be drawn up on the punches by withdraw-l ing the piercing-punch therefrom, a strippingpiece, q, with a hole therein suiiicient to permit the shank l to pass through, is secured to astud supporting the priming mechanism, (see Fig. 4,) beneath which the heads of the shells pass to be pierced, and against the lower side of which the heads of the shells are held while the piercing-punch is being withdrawn therefrom, the pierced shells still remaining in the required position to pass beneath the primingdie p and punch O to be primed. After the shells have been pierced and primed they are carried,still onr their pins,beneath the automatic take-oit' T, where they are removed. This take-offeonsists of a tube provided with springjaws l l, projecting on the interior thereof, for grasping the-heads ofthe shells beneath their ilanges, and in their upward movement withdrawing the shells from the pins consecutively, one after another, as they are presented. When a shell is withdrawn frein a pin it remains in the tube T until the neit succeeding shell is withdrawn, which pushes it farther into the tube, and takesu its place between the jaws l I., and so ou, the succeeding` shells `as they are removed from the pins continue to till the tube until they are forced out of its opposite bent end into a receptacle to receive them.

To adjust the priming-punch O directly over the pockets, and to insert the primers to the exact depth required into the pockets of the shells, an adjustable holder, S, is provided, which is more clearly,represented in the enlarged detached view, Fig. (i. A stem, h, having a screw-thread cut thereon, is held in position on the plate Il by means of a collar, i, andjam-nut k. To this stem 'It is fitted an oblong thumb-nut, Y, and jam-nut which thumb-nut may be turned up or down, as the case lmay be, and llrmly held in the required position by its jam-nut Through this adjustable screw S thc priming-punch t), to which said punch is. firmly secured', moves up and down in .heilig adjusted. Thus to set the punch 0 to the exa-ct position to insert the primers into the pockets of the shells properly, the jamnuts Q k are loosened and the thumb-nut Y turned up or down or moved sidewise in the plate L, as the case may require, carryingwith it the punch O, secured thereto, and whenthe punch O is found to be in the exact position to properly insert the primers the jam-nuts Q k are set, respectively, against the lower end of the thumb-nut and down upon the plate L, by which the punch O is immovably fixed to the said plate to prime shells.

To prevent injury to the delicate priming mechanism, and to facilitate priming shells, the various parts are actuated by positive and connected driving mechanism. The drivingwheel D, through the shaft E, crank X, co'nnecting-rod, and slide, operates the priming mechanism mounted upon the plate u, hereinbefore described. The bevel-wheel r, Fig. 2, on shaft E, bevel-wheel t' on upright shaft 4, and bevel-wheelsj, revolve the cam V, impart# ing thereby, through the notched wheel Z, the required intermittent rotating movement to the dial u, to present the pins lt thereon carrying the shells to the priming mechanism.

The bevel-wheel 5, driven from a corresponding bevel-wheel on the main shaft E, takes into a larger wheel, a., on an upright shaft, g, to which shaft the rotating plate W issecured, and upon which the primers are carried and presented, one by one, to the reciprocating jaws Im a, through the curved guide-strips 6 6.

1n orderfto perfectly prime shells'for cartridges thctprimers should be ot" equal length, and to insure this a gage-bar, 7, Fig. 3, is placed over the revolving plate V, at the required distance up from the surface of the plate, so that primers ot' a given length may pass beneath thisassorting-bar; but such primers as are too long will not pass beneath it, and may be. removed' from the plate by the operative., or eventually work their way bythe friction ofthe plate oli' the side thereof.

To keep the plate W clean and free ironl scraps of tin-foil, with which the primers arev lined, particles of fulminate and other foreign mattcrtcnding to gatherin the primingmechanism and obstruct its free operation, a scraper, 8, is provided, l"ig...3,' which rests upon or so near to the surface of the plate as to remove whatever may gather thereon. Y

In order to operate the mechanism in a ma-` chine for priming shells with the least power, so as not to cndan ger the delicatcly-constructed priming devices, and to expedite the priming ofshells, the plate L, with the mechanism there- IOS Izo

on, is supported ou adjustable springs c, surl rounding the sliding rods J, so that the whole moving mechanism is nearly or quite balanced,

whereby only sutiicicnt power is required tov pierce and prime the shells and to remove them from the punches. These springs are adjustable by means ofjam-nuts on the rods-J.

The belt by which the whole mechanism is operated is only of sullicient power to pierce the shells, seat the primers, and remove the shellafrom the pins, and is so proportioned to the power required, and is so loose on lche driv- Y ing-Wheel D, that in case of any obstruction the belt will either slip ou the pulley or run ed' of itself, thereby preventing injury to the 'delicate priming-tools. f

Shells to be primed are placedon the pins R, and bythe wheeluare carried first beneath the punch M, by which they are forced down thereon, so as to pass beneath the stripper q, ho be pierced by the punch N; thence they are carried beneath the die p and punch O to receive the primers, and thence to the lake-oli' to be removed from the punches.

IThe operation of priming shells is much accelereted by the priming mechanism being supported upon the spring-frame K, whereby only snfcient power is required to seat; the primers,

theweght, of the pleteL, with its priming mechanism thereon, being removed by the springs c. u

Having thus fully described myjnvention,

what; I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

in a cartridge-priming machine, a pair of slidingjaws for grasping the primers and presenting them to the priming1)iiiicl1, thejaw n moving' back and4 forth with Ihe slide d, t0 which it is secured, the jaw on being springpressed and stopped in its forward movement by a fixed stop, as e, all substantiallyas described.'

DANIEL E. POWERS.

` Witnesses H. WIDMAYER, J AMES v PATTON. 

